Local pharmacies hold fast to flu vaccine age restrictions

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Despite the fact that the governor last week declared a statewide public health emergency that temporarily suspended a state law preventing pharmacists from giving flu vaccinations to minors, it doesn't mean area pharmacies will administer the shots.

Many local pharmacies are sticking with their age restrictions and policies to require a prescription in order for a minor to receive a flu shot.

Rite-Aid is limiting their flu vaccines to those older than 9 and is requiring a prescription for minors. Target pharmacies have limited their vaccines to young people older than 4, also requiring a prescription for minors. CVS is prohibiting their pharmacists from issuing flu vaccines to anyone younger than 18.

"We are working as quickly as possible to allow CVS pharmacists to vaccinate patients under the age of 17 years," said Michael DeAngelis, a spokesperson for CVS. "However, the (governor's) order did not address other related issues that we are in the process of resolving before our pharmacists can vaccinate minors, including an exemption for the physician protocols, under which pharmacists are permitted to vaccinate patients 18 and older without a written prescription."

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Dr. Emanuel Cirenza of Community Care Pediatrics said taking your child to their pediatrician for a vaccine is "generally a good idea."

"I think that there's always going to be comfort in seeing a pediatrician for the child -- it's familiar," he said, adding that for parents there is also comfort in the doctor's level of expertise.

Cirenza said his office often gets phone calls from pharmacists requesting that a pediatrician vaccinate a patient instead.

"It would be my opinion that pharmacists in general are uncomfortable with administering vaccines. ... It's just not in their breadth and scope," he said.

However, Saratoga Springs Rite-Aid pharmacist Jason Erwin said all pharmacists take a national course on immunization and are trained to immunize children ages 3 and up. "Most other states can vaccinate children, and it is likely that New York will follow suit," he said.

In addition to the need for quickly instituting policies, some pharmacies are facing a shortage of vaccines across the region.

"Due to high demand caused by the outbreaks of influenza across the country, some of our locations are experiencing sporadic shortages of flu vaccine," DeAngelis said. "We are re-supplying stores as quickly as possible."

All three Saratoga Springs Rite Aid stores received a large shipment Wednesday afternoon.

Pharmacists urge prospective customers to call the store beforehand to verify it has supplies of the flu shot.

The demand for the vaccine is "unprecedented," DeAngelis said. That demand is likely the result of the governor's directive in combination with the unexpectedly high number of flu cases across the state and the region.

According to the state Health Department, providers have been vaccinating since September, and those needing more vaccine should use the national Influenza Vaccine Availability Tracking System to help in ordering more.

The department says it is also surveying pharmacists and hospitals to determine their vaccine availability.

So far this season, more than 19,000 cases of influenza have been reported in New York, compared with some 4,400 positive lab tests reported in the 2011-2012 season. By early January, the department says it received reports of 2,884 patients hospitalized with confirmed influenza.

Ian Benjamin, Caitlin Morris and The Associated Press contributed to this report.